


Waltzes are for Happy People

by petersfeather



Series: Let's Hear It for the Boy [6]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Billy has family i dare someone to fucking tell me no, Billy has more family, Christmas, Ficlet, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, San Francisco Bay Area, The Nutcracker, billy has happy memories with his other family, canon is trash, i gave him an aunt and a cousin, mentions of abuse, sorry bout it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:02:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21910423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petersfeather/pseuds/petersfeather
Summary: Billy ends up on a drive up to the Bay Area with his aunt, listening to jazz music Billy’s never heard. The car smells of Christmas trees- Billy’s pretty sure it’s from the pine tree shaped car fresheners.“We’re gonna see a show in the city for Christmas, doesn’t that sound fun?”Billy shrugs. He figures it’s a movie. He’s never been to a show that wasn’t a movie. “What show?”“The Nutcracker. You know, your cousin is performing in it. She got us tickets!”Billy didn’t know he had a cousin.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Series: Let's Hear It for the Boy [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1425955
Comments: 8
Kudos: 127





	Waltzes are for Happy People

**Author's Note:**

> hi hi hi
> 
> so i wrote this for [this ask](https://okaybutlikeimagine.tumblr.com/post/187852608583/8-for-billy-but-it-doesnt-have-to-be-classical) someone sent me about Billy listening to classical music. I let myself get carried away with giving Billy family so I wrote this whole thing for it and now I'm posting it. ^U^
> 
> I'm gonna add this to my Found Family series bc it's in the same universe as that but this mostly takes place with Billy as a young'n ♥
> 
> i just gave him family bc i wanted to. also i could melt thinking about little Billy sitting anxiously in a theater, watching a ballet, actually really loving it. augh.
> 
> ANYWAY here ya go dears

Billy has an aunt on his mother’s side.

She lives up in the Bay Area. She saw Billy a little bit after he was born, more than excited about meeting the newest baby in the family. And then again when he was about 4 and she came down to visit with her husband to take Billy to Disneyland and buy him cotton candy and little Mickey Mouse ears and take him on a Small World and let him meet Mickey.

When Billy is about 8, his aunt comes back down to drive him up to the Bay Area for Christmas. It’s a long drive, a semi-long stay, and a lot of random circumstances that lead to his being able to go. Neil’s childhood friend dies, Billy’s mother catches a stomach bug and can’t take care of Billy while they’re at home, and neither of his parents want their son going to this funeral or catching sick for Christmas.

And Billy’s aunt has been begging and pleading his mother to see Billy again. See how he’s grown, take him out to the city, have some family over at her house for Christmas because her husband left a couple years ago and she doesn’t like being alone for the holidays.

So that’s how Billy ends up on a drive up to the Bay Area with his aunt, listening to jazz music Billy’s never heard. The car smells of Christmas trees- Billy’s pretty sure it’s from the pine tree shaped car fresheners.

“We’re gonna see a show in the city for Christmas, doesn’t that sound fun?”

Billy shrugs. He figures it’s a movie. He’s never been to a show that wasn’t a movie. “What show?”

“The Nutcracker. You know, your cousin is performing in it. She got us tickets!”

Billy didn’t know he had a cousin.

But he has a wonderful time up in the bay. She shows him all there is to see and feeds him every piece of Christmas candy Billy can even think of and makes him hot chocolate and sits down with him to watch a different Christmas movie each night. He gets spoiled. Billy has never been spoiled.

And so on Christmas day, after opening presents (he gets one that his parents sent down with him, but the rest are from his aunt. Lots of cool toys he’d never think to ask for and a couple of shirts he actually thinks look pretty nice. Might be a bit too warm to wear down in San Diego, but still) and watching the Rockettes on TV, his aunt tells him to put on a nice, light sweater he packed and some nice jeans and they head out to the city to see The Nutcracker.

And Billy has always been kind of an antsy kid. He doesn’t like to sit down for too long. His teachers get upset at him because he can’t focus very well. But for something that has absolutely no words/speaking in it whatsoever... this is actually very interesting. The sets are huge, the costumes are colorful, their faces are so lively, the music is interesting. His heart absolutely _drops_ when the tree grows big and the large fireplace comes out.

And yeah, he’s a little confused about the story, but he thinks the dancing soldier is cool and he likes the music that plays while he dances. The Rat King is kind of scary, he flinches a little when he sees him, but they’re sword fighting and that’s not what he thought he signed up for when he agreed to come to this. And then...

And then.....

And then Waltz of the Snowflakes comes on.

Women, 2 at a time, are running and jumping and... _frolicking_? onto stage and once the 4th one comes on, Billy’s aunt pats his arm and points.

“That’s your cousin!” She whispers. Billy tries to memorize what she looks like, but everyone is dressed the same and they’re all running on and off the stage and there’s a _lot_ of them and Billy’s head is kind of spinning.

But...

But it’s _beautiful_. The music is spinning along with them as they twirl and sparkle and the music has so many different sounds all at once and it’s almost _overwhelming_. But it’s beautiful and Billy keeps asking his aunt which one his cousin is because he wants to watch her. Billy memorizes her face a couple minutes into the dance. _She’s_ beautiful, even though Billy can’t really see her face. It’s just the way she moves. Billy thinks she’s the best dancer on that stage, even better than the girl with the skirt that sticks out and dances in front most of the time. No, he’s not biased, his cousin is the _best_. She jumps higher and her faces are better and her hands are nicer and she’s just _better_ , thank you. Of _course_ she’s better, she’s _his_ cousin.

And suddenly the music is amping up, then it’s swirly and his cousin is running to their side of the stage. Billy and his aunt are sitting in the front row, all the way at the end, and his cousin is coming _towards_ them, stopping in the corner, posing and smiling prettily and Billy _swears_ she makes eye contact with him and smiles wider and winks. Billy’s returning smile is involuntary.

And then the music stops. Everyone’s clapping. Billy tags along. He kinda wishes it could keep going, it was just so _pretty_ and the rest of it has been cool, sure, but that was just... so _pretty_. Billy’s never seen snow before but now he wants to live in it.

But then there’s music underneath the clapping. Something low and almost threatening and-

It gets _faster_. His cousin looks like she takes a big breath before she runs away to join the rest of the girls, spinning and twirling and kicking and jumping. There’s voices singing now and it’s almost like the girls are singing and then there’s _snow_.

Like... _lots of snow._

It’s a _blizzard_ , all of the girls running and jumping and spinning and the music is rising and getting _louder_ , impossibly louder and it’s inside Billy’s chest and he almost can’t see anyone through the snowfall but he can still pick out his cousin, he swears on it, and then-

It’s... quiet again. The music is soft. There’s probably story happening but Billy is busy watching his cousin and the girls around her, all of them breathing real heavy and he’s joining them because _wow_ the music was so intense he _felt it_. And the snow is still falling and the little girl from the beginning comes and goes on some sleigh and they all pose and then the curtain is falling and... the lights come on.

“How did you like it?” is the first thing his aunt asks and Billy feels frazzled.

“It’s _over_?”

She laughs. “No honey, that was just the first act. Isn’t your cousin good?”

Billy nods. “Yeah.”

She leads him out to the lobby, buying them both a cookie in the shape of a Nutcracker to munch on before the next act starts.

And the rest of the show is pretty, the music is all so different and it all hits him differently, but he can’t stop thinking about all that snow. About the swirling sound of the music. About the way the people on stage _were_ the music it was... it was something Billy’s never seen or heard and he’s _floored_. _Still_.

After the show, his aunt holds his hand (to his dismay. He is _eight_ , y’know. He doesn’t need his hand held.) and walks him out of the theater. Everyone lingers around the front, chattering among themselves and shivering slightly in the cold, but his aunt leads him around the side of the theater and over to a rather large door that has a different kind of bustling energy. They stand there, waiting as people run in and out with an excitable and happy chatter surrounding them. When he looks up to her to ask what they’re doing, she leans down to tell him they’re waiting for his cousin.

And yeah... Billy was right, she’s beautiful. Billy feels kinda proud about it? He knows his mom is pretty, his aunt is also pretty, it makes sense that his cousin is just as pretty. Maybe prettier? Although she does have a _lot_ of make-up on and _crazy_ long eyelashes. They almost touch her eyebrows.

“Hey mom! _Hey_ , you brought the kid!” She bends down a little bit to be at eye level with him, putting her hands on her knees. “What’s up, little dude, how’d you like the show?”

Billy just nods, a little amazed. Her presence is so _large_.

“Not too boring for ya?”

Billy shakes his head. She laughs a slightly raspy laugh.

“Good! I was a little worried when my mom said you were coming. I’m Margaret by the way.”

She holds her hand out to shake. Billy takes it.

“Billy.”

“Nice to finally meet you, Billy! I love your hair. It looks like it curls up, huh?”

Billy nods. She ruffles it a bit.

“I wish mine curled up like that.” She straightens out and smiles down on him before turning to her mom and asking how their Christmas has been. Having a little conversation with her, saying “I don’t have any more shows, so I can come celebrate with you. I don’t need to go to whatever party they’re having, not when my baby cousin’s in town!”

She ruffles Billy’s hair again. He scrunches up his nose at the use of the word “baby” and she just laughs at him before getting a mischievous look in her eye.

“Hey, you wanna see something cool?” There’s fire dancing in her eyes. Billy nods. She looks back at the stage door and then grabs his hand and presses her finger to her lips. “Shh. Come with me.”

She gives a small wave to her mom and tells her they’ll be back before pulling Billy through the stage door.

Past it is a _river_ of people. Everyone rushing around and chattering and wearing absolute _masks_ of make-up. They all leave trails of sparkles behind them and Billy’s pretty sure he has some in his hair that’s gonna be real hard to get out.

But Margaret is waving hi and patting people on the back and shoulder with her left hand and holding Billy tight with her right, breaking through the crowd and leading his way until they get up to a large door.

She turns to face him and puts a finger to her lips again. “Remember, shh! Alright?”

Billy nods.

She opens the door behind her and pulls him through and it’s _dark_. Real fucking dark, especially when the door closes. But she takes him around a corner and-

Someone stops them.

“Hey, Charlie! Just passing through.”

“No.” He says, not looking up from his clipboard.

“Come _on_ , I have my baby cousin with me!” She pulls Billy forward. “He’s never been on a stage before! He drove _hours_ up here to see me, you can’t let us out there for _five minutes_?”

The guy- Charlie -looks down at Billy with a cold look. Billy can read the situation and puts on his best puppy dog face. He knows his blue eyes can get him anything he wants. He’s done it plenty times at arcades and candy stores.

Margaret gestures to him. “See! He just wants to see the stage!”

Charlie sighs. “ _Fine_. You have _five_ minutes, alright?”

“Thanks Charlie! Love you!” Margaret says quickly before taking Billy fully around the corner and-

_Woah._

In the darkness of the curtains and large set pieces, there’s what seems like a full room of light. From where Billy’s standing it looks like _heaven_. Like they’re walking into the light and they literally _are_ but... 

“Whaddya think?” She asks as they walk out onto the illuminated stage.

The sets are _massive_. A lot bigger than they look from the audience. The ground is covered in this weird, yellow-ish, powdery stuff with confusing patterns in it and Billy is looking out into the rows and rows and rows and rows and _rows_ of seats. Looks up at the balcony. Stares in awe.

“Uhm… woah.”

Margaret smiles wide. “I know, right? Isn’t it gorgeous? Oh! That’s where you were sitting, right?” She asks, walking over to the front right corner of the stage. “And this is where I was! Snowflake number four.”

She gives him a bright smile and then a shrug.

“They don’t actually give us numbers, but I like to call myself Snowflake number four.”

Billy laughs a bit.

“Sounds important.” Billy says quietly, kicking at the dusty stuff on the ground. Margaret laughs and shoves at his shoulder.

“You bet it is! If I don’t come out, the show can’t keep going.”

Billy chuckles, shakes his head, looks around the stage and watches the people bustling around, watches the sets get moved, watches the way Margaret walks gracefully around the stage, spinning a bit, like she’s dancing.

“Do something.” Billy’s voice blurts out before he can think about it. She turns to him with a laugh.

“Do something? Do what?”

Billy shrugs. “Dance?”

She nods. “Alright, I guess. But only if you dance with me!”

Billy’s immediately apprehensive, and it seems like she can tell, because she laughs and moves to stand right next to him. “Come on, it’s not _too_ hard. Just put your foot out- yeah, there you go! Now stick your toes down… yeah! And jump a little… You got it!”

And she walks him through a few more jumps that for him are hops, and she holds his hand and spins him around, and then she says: “C’mere! I bet I can lift you, just stick your legs out.”

And so he lets her lift him and tries to stick his legs out as much as he can as she lifts him up a bit and sets him down on the right side of her, both of them full of giggles.

“Look at that! You could be our next Clara! Think I would make a good Nutcracker?”

Billy nods. “Yeah, I think you’d be pretty good.”

“Thanks, little dude.” She ruffles his hair again.

“The costume might be too big though. His head is huge.”

“Eh.” She swipes at the air. “I’ll wear shoulder pads.”

And they walk around and Margaret twirls and she shows him the tree and Billy wants to _climb it_ and she lets him get in the sleigh and at _that_ , Charlie shoos them away.

And so they run away in a fit of giggles, meeting back up with Billy’s aunt outside to spend the night on the city. They walk around and see all the lights. They go to the park and see a large Christmas tree all lit up. They tell stories and laugh and buy cookies at a little bakery on the corner and they head back home and watch Christmas movies all bundled up and Billy thinks this might be the most beautiful Christmas. Lights and warmth and music and all.

His cousin gifts him a little snowflake ornament.

“It’s me! Snowflake number four.” She’s excited and he laughs with her at that. “So you remember to come back and see the show again some time. They’ve got me locked up in a contract, so my ass is gonna be here for a while. You can bring your parents too! I’d love to see my Auntie Seashell again.”

Billy doesn’t know what she means exactly, but he smiles at her giggle.

She gives Billy a big, squishy hug and tells him- “I’m serious, little dude. You’ve gotta come back and see me! You’re good company.”

Billy promises. He’s adamant.

The drive back down is faster than he wants. Sadder than he wants. He thinks he’ll miss the jazz music but he doesn’t know why. He feels the temperature get warmer and misses the pinching of the cold air.

And of course, Billy doesn’t go back. Not before his cousin is done with the Nutcracker. Not before she’s done with her ballet career completely. Ballerina’s careers are short lived anyway.

Christmases in San Diego get colder. Far, far colder. His mother leaves and he’s there, freezing in their 70 degree house because nothing feels right. He only sees cold glares, the only touch he receives is the harsh back of a large hand and he’s… he freezes over. Christmas isn’t warm here like in the 35 degree weather of the city, holding the soft hands of two women who looked at him like they cared. Even with his new _sister_ and new… no. Not even these new women in his life could feed warmth into the holidays.

 _She’s not my mom._ He had growled at his new stupid _sister_ before he pushed her over.

But every year around Christmas, Billy thinks of his Margaret. Thinks of his aunt and his cousin and all of the other family he probably has that he doesn’t know a damn thing about. About all of the people who look like him out there. About all of their talents. They’re the only memories that keep him warm. The thought that there are people out there who look like him. There are people of his flesh and blood out there who might love him if they knew him. If they knew he was here, freezing on the floor of a home that deems him unloveable.

He still has the ornament. He stopped putting it on the tree when his dad started getting more violent. More angry. After the one year where his dad knocked the tree over and caused more than a handful of ornaments to shatter, including the one that they bought for Billy’s first Christmas. The one they always made sure Billy put up every year.

Every year Billy thinks of going to see that show. Of how bright the city was. He hears the random Nutcracker songs they play on the radio and in Christmas commercials and he feels his heart light up.  
The Christmases are a lot colder in Hawkins, but he still warms at the sound of the ballet.

And everyone is very very _very_ confused when he buys a cassette tape of the Nutcracker.

But the first day it snows, the first time Billy sees it actually _snow_ from the sky for the first time in his life, he hears the song playing through his head. He puts the tape in. He sits in the window with a mug of hot chocolate and he watches. No one understands.

Until he talks to Steve about it. One night when they get snowed in at Steve’s house and Billy is getting lost in the swirling snowfall, thinking he sees girls that look like his cousin dancing on the wind, even if they’re blurry and vague, and asks Steve for a mug of hot chocolate.

“Whatcha thinking about?”

Billy feels his breath pull inside of him.

“My cousin.”

There’s a pause.

“I didn’t know you had cousins.”

“Yeah well…” _I didn’t know it for a long time._ Billy thinks. “Yeah. I do.”

Steve watches his boyfriend, sees his eyes track something outside like there’s something to see that _isn’t_ just snowfall.

“What’s got you thinking about your cousin?”

Billy’s eyes burn a bit.

“She…She lives back in California. And when I met her… she was in the Nutcracker. In San Francisco.”

“Wow.” Steve sounds impressed. “Sounds cool.”

“Yeah, she was pretty fucking cool. She was really good. She uh… She was a snowflake.”

Steve sees the breath fill Billy’s chest and exit slowly.

“Snowflake number four.” He mutters before biting at his lip. It’s an anxious gesture.

“Sounds like an important part.” Steve jests.

Billy chuckles a bit at that, being pulled quickly into a memory, even for a brief moment. He feels he’s gonna get whiplash from it.

“Yeah.” he says absent-mindedly.

They sit. Steve watches the snow like he sees something now too. He doesn’t. He just sees snow. But if he thinks real hard, he can see a tiny figure dancing on the falling flecks.

He, too, went to a ballet once. With his mom and her friends and one of their daughters. It wasn’t a horrible experience, but it was definitely irritating being toted around like a trophy instead of a son. Steve had disliked the show just out of principle for hating the experience.

“Is that why you’re always listening to that tape you have? Of the Nutcracker?”

Billy laughs. “Yeah, yeah, it is. It was just… It was such a _good_ Christmas. It was probably the best Christmas I’ve ever had.”

Billy doesn’t want to say it was because they were his family and he felt a _connection_ with them, but he thinks that’s why. He loves his found family, he’d die for them a million times over. He doesn’t even have to think about it. But…

Those two people were blood relatives of him. There was a connection there that made him feel a different kind of special.

Steve watches Billy yearn for something he can’t see. He pulls Billy into his lap and they cuddle up underneath blankets to watch the snow together.

Steve listens as Billy gushes. He put a little liquor into his hot chocolate, gets a little loose about speaking like he does when he’s tipsy, and tells Steve all about how pretty it was. How _beautiful_. How talented and gorgeous his cousin was and “Of _course_ she was, she is _my_ cousin.”

Steve chuckles at that.

And one Christmas, Steve gives Billy an envelope for a gift.

“Gee, what a special present.” Billy says with more confusion in his voice than actual disdain. Steve laughs anyway and waits for Billy to open the envelope.

He pulls out two strips of paper.

“Tickets to…? Really?” Billy asks, looking up at Steve with wide, confused eyes.

“In New York, yeah. I know they’re not in San Francisco and I know your cousin won’t be there but… I dunno. I thought it’d be fun. You seem to like the music at least and-”

Billy hugs Steve tight _immediately_. Squeezes him hard and buries his face in Steve’s neck and mumbles multiple _thank yous._

Steve laughs.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays my babes ♥
> 
> If you wanna come yell at me on my blog, im over here [@okaybutlikeimagine](https://okaybutlikeimagine.tumblr.com/)
> 
> i'm also [@pointeful](https://pointeful.tumblr.com/) if you wanna come catch me being lame on my main blog
> 
> this post can be found at [my tumblr right here](https://okaybutlikeimagine.tumblr.com/post/189819019273/waltzes-are-for-happy-people) if you wanna read it on tumblr!
> 
> great, thanks so much for reading, and i adore your soul ♥


End file.
